Gay Speech Police Targets Giants for Hiring Super Bowl Hero

The Human Rights Campaign has said that David Tyree’s views on marriage mean that he couldn’t possibly be a good football coach, encouraging the New York Giants to rethink the retired receiver’s spot as director of player development.

Citing Tyree’s espousal of people shifting from homosexuality to heterosexuality, HRC President Chad Griffin claims that “the New York Giants are risking their credibility by hiring someone who publicly advocates this junk science. His opposition to basic legal equality aside, David Tyree’s proselytizing of such dangerous practices goes against the positive work the Giants organization has done in recent years.”

Tyree stating that he’d trade a Super Bowl win for a society that maintains the traditional definition of marriage sparked charges of disloyalty to the Giants from HRC. “As a player, David Tyree made clear that his misguided personal views trump his responsibility to his teammates and his employer,” Griffin held.

Tyree made the miraculous catch against his helmet in Super Bowl XLII that allowed the Giants to eventually beat the undefeated New England Patriots. But his views on man-woman marriage, according to HRC, override his role in Giants history to such an extent that the team shouldn’t have reconnected with its Super Bowl hero.

“His misinformed and dangerous statements put his judgment into question, on and off the field,” HRC’s Fred Sainz told NJ.com. “Why would the New York Giants organization want a guy like this working for them?” Sainz did not say how a political judgment, like supporting man-woman marriage, could cloud football judgment.

What are Tyree’s misinformed and dangerous statements?

Tyree supports man-woman marriage, believes that same-sex attraction is not inborn, and that men and women are capable of leaving the LGBT way of life.

The soft-spoken Tyree has said he does not agree with gay marriage “because God does not agree with it.” Tyree is a born-again Christian who turned to religion after an ultimatum from his wife that he stop drinking and become a better husband and father. He says that night he read the Bible and it changed his life.

In 2011 Tyree got involved in the campaign in New York on the question of same-sex marriage and said same-sex marriage would lead to “anarchy.” He maintained, “The nuclear family is the backbone of society,” “marriage existed prior to our country,” and “redefining marriage changes everything including the way we educate our children.”

“This is not personal,” the sure-handed receiver explained. “I could still be in a locker room with a gay man and still love him as a teammate. I can be tolerant, but the problem is people aren’t tolerant of the views people like me have. If you don’t agree with that lifestyle, you’re a bigot. I’m not a bigot. I have different viewpoints.”

The New York Giants say that Tyree’s views are his own and that he remains “the best man for the job.”

Tyree is not the only sports figure in trouble with homosexual pressure groups. Former NFL coach Tony Dungy said he would not have drafted openly-gay player Michael Sam, not because of Sam’s same-sex attraction but because of the controversy that would have come with it.Slate‘s Tyler Lopez opined, “This isn’t just unreasonable, it’s blatantly homophobic–a perfect example of the anti-gay animus that many LGBTQ people fear from their employers.” NBC, Dungy’s employer, made him apologize on Tuesday.